All Posts Tagged With: "save money"

One of my favorite clients sent out long list of energy-saving tips after spending close to a year shaving her family’s energy use. Violaine Melancon is a musician who cares deeply about the environment and she got bitten by the energy efficiency bug. A good list is very satisfying, even if they have things you’re already doing, because that just makes you feel a bit smug. (Already doing! So in-the-know!)

A while back we wrote about this topic , aimed at reducing heating bills in winter. Here we present Violaine’s more comprehensive list, with links added by us for your convenience. Let us know what your experiences are with saving energy around your house.

1. Turn off lights! Use as little as you really need.

2. Change all the incandescent light bulbs you can to those funny-looking fluorescent ones.

3. Unplug appliances (washer, dryer, kitchen things like blender, toaster, hairdryer etc…) when not in use. This includes your cell-phone charger and any low-voltage lights that have those boxy AC adaptors on the plug end.

4. Turn off your computer when not in use and purchase a “smart strip" at SmartHomeUSA , which cuts the leaking current at the source. While you’re at it, purchase smart strips for the TV/DVD center and the sound system. All electronics still use a lot of power even when off. Continued

This was sent by my someone who works for Kinder Morgan. It was written by a petroleum engineer and sent throughout his company. I thought it was extremely interesting.

I don’t know what you guys are paying for gasoline…. but here in California we are also paying higher, up to $4.oo per gallon or more. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money’s worth for every gallon..

Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose , CA we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premium grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons.

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening….your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role.

for more tips read on….

Continued

A message from the Sierra Club. . . .

Memorial Day Weekend is coming and — in spite of gas prices — more Americans than ever are planning to get away by car. (1) But that doesn’t have to cost as much as you think.

There are lots of ways to save gas (checked your tires lately?) but the easiest and most effective way is to slow down (just a little bit). When you add up the savings, it’s like getting paid to relax.

So before you get behind the wheel for the upcoming holiday, show us what you’re made of. Pledge to Drive 55 (or whatever the speed limit is on the roads you’re traveling) for Memorial Day Weekend. Poor Sammy Hagar can’t do it, but we bet you can. After all, even jets are slowing down to save money!(2)

The Union of Concerned Scientists tells us that dropping from 70 to 60 mph improves fuel efficiency by an average of 17.2 percent. Dropping from 75 to 55 improves fuel efficiency by 30.6 percent!(3)

Put another way, in a family sedan, every 10 mph you drive over 60 is like paying 54 cents per gallon more for gas you bought at $3.25 a gallon. (4) That extra cost is even higher for big SUVs and other less-efficient vehicles.

And the time you save by going easy on the accelerator may not add up to as much as you thought. On a 300-mile trip, driving 65 instead of 70 mph would cost you only 20 minutes — but save money and spew less carbon.

Is driving to your destination more fuel-efficient than flying? Take our "How Green Is My Getaway" quiz. You might be surprised.

Our April 29 post about driving the speed limit in our Green Life blog led many to share the wisdom of their personal road trip experiences. You can read all of them here, and share your own.

Have a great Memorial Day,

Greg Haegele
Director of Conservation, Sierra Club